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(CNN) – Welcome to CNN Radio News Day.

Just as the solar world was preparing for a close call with an asteroid, a meteor ends up exploding in air over Russia, injuring 1,000 people. It was the equivalent of detonating about 300 kilotons of TNT, according to some experts. Martin Archer is a space physicist at Imperial College London:

"This is a complete cosmic coincidence. 12 hours distance between this meteor hitting in Russia and when we're expecting DA-14 2012 to come. That's a massive difference when it comes to space objects."

It's been just over two years since a street vendor in Tunisia set himself on fire. The action was not only to protest the police confiscation of his small produce cart, but also the overall political corruption in the country. It all led to large protests which eventually sparked a revolution in Tunisia and much of the Arab world. CNN's Nic Robertson has been looking back at political changes in the region since that one act of desperation:

“People are really only beginning to sort of come to terms with the idea of what democracy is and how do you achieve it.”

President Obama took his post-State of the Union campaign tour to his hometown of Chicago today. While he talked a lot about the economy, Mr. Obama also mentioned gun violence. In the Windy City, more than 500 people were killed by guns in the last year. And city authorities say daily violence is being fueled by the actions of one man – designated public enemy number one. John Riley, who heads Chicago's DEA division, says the reach of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman goes well beyond Mexico's borders:

"'Chappo' represents probably the largest threat of organized crime that Chicago's seen certainly in recent years."

soundoff(One Response)

Jon Champs

I'm sorry but I cannot agree this was the equivalent of 300Kt. More like a 40-60kt atmosphere burst at a considerable height and even that seems big. 300Kt would have flattened most of the city and the surrounding area from the detonation height. Clearly this guy needs to reassess what 300Kt and the shock wave/thermal/shock wave bounce would actually have done if it was that level of equivalence.